Dynamic priority-based packet handling protocol for healthcare wireless body area network system

Abstract

The vision of wireless body area network (WBAN) is to facilitate, improve, and have an immense impact on the healthcare system in terms of identifying the risk level or severity factor of a patient in various emergencies. Modern and technical advances in WBAN revolutionise this area for autonomous monitoring of vital signals for a longer duration as well as from a remote place. However, handling of heterogeneous packets in a fast changing healthcare scenario has continued to be an opportunity for exploration. We present a novel concept of dynamic priority-based packet handling (DPPH) which promises to add exciting capabilities to the world of WBANs. DPPH uses the principles of accurate identification and classification of heterogeneous packets to effectively determine patient's critical condition and alerts the medical person if required. In this paper, we have focused on dynamic prioritisation-based queuing, scheduling, alerting and resource sharing policies for performance enhancement. The proposed approach is validated through a comparison with existing approaches. The effectiveness of the proposed protocol is evaluated under various scenarios using a network simulator 'NS-2.35' and its performance is judged on the basis of packet delivery ratio, loss ratio, end-to-end delay, and throughput.